Mass Effect 3: From Ashes, I Rise
by RaRiley
Summary: Where did the Reapers originate from? A haunting question. A fanfic that answers that haunting question, and allows me to make up my own ending to ME3. Please review, as I like to get advice on how to improve! Oh, and it's Shepard X Garrus OC
1. Chapter 1: A Discovery

_No, this can't be the only solution! There has to be something else we can do!_ She stared at the terminal, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes, the travesty... no.. depraved act that was about to take place numbed her mind to anything else. She couldn't even acknowledge what was going on around her.

_This is the only way, Eshe, everything else has failed. _Her companion replied, placing his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. She shook her head violently, shock turning into anger.

_This would be no victory! What this.. this is just slaughter! If we do this, there will be none of us left!_ She yelled at him, the tears starting to fall. Her companion studied her face, then closed his eyes. He was tired of seeing her cry. He took a breath before speaking.

_If we don't do this, there'll be no universe left! Please, Eshe, go... sleep while we finish this..you and your order will be there to tell of our victory. _He said in a pleading voice, turning away as Eshe was pulled out of his grip. Closing his eyes again as her screams echoed down the corridor. _Let the universe continue without knowing what has occurred here._ He prayed to himself, as he turned off the terminal for the final time.

"Commander, there is an anamoly on this planet. Would you like to investigate?" Edi inquired over intercom gently, as Commander Shepard removed the wet washcloth from her eyes. The Reaper invasion, and the political struggle to unite the universe, had left dark circles under her eyes, as even sleep didn't bring her any respite from it.

"What kind of anamoly? Another mercenary base? I'm pretty much done with those." Shepard responded as she stretched, her joins cracking and making her wince. She heard movement on her bed and glanced apologetically at Garrus, who was already eyeing her in displeasure of her still being awake.

"Not a base, there seems to be some sort of... artifact... within these ruins. Liara may be interested, my scans indicate that they are of an origin much older than the Protheans." Edi replied. Shepard sat up in surprise, and got out of her chair. "Tell Liara to get suited up, if anything we may find something useful against the Reapers than the Crucible plans, or maybe something that explains the Catalyst." Shepard ordered, while Garrus sighed and began to dress.

"You know, you're going to have to sleep eventually." Garrus half-joked, putting his arms around Shepard. She leaned back into his embrace for a few moments before moving out of them -regretfully- and began to suit up. "At least I'm doing something useful with my time." Shepard joked back," At least Liara will have a field day, or field night. Hell, I don't even know what time it is." "Time to go back to bed?" Garrus replied hopefully, making Shepard laugh,"Finish suiting up and meet me and Liara at the armory, time to play paleantologist." she replied and left the room, greatful to be doing something active to keep the nightmares at bay for little bit longer.

"Edi, any updates on what sort of artifact we're looking at?" Shepard inquired as they took the Kodiak down to the ground. "And any hostiles in the area?"

"Unfortunately my databanks don't have any information on any civilization before the Protheans, I have asked Javik for any information but even he said all he knew were ancient folktales and that they'd be no use for you." Edi replied," As to hostility, none detected but there is some wildlife, as the ruins have been overtaken by vegetation over time."

"A race so old even Javik hasn't heard of them?" Liara asked in excited rhetoric,"Shepard, this is an amazing find! I'm not certain what the artifact is but it does agree with the fact that they existed! It's amazing that it even survived all this time, when Prothean artifacts were hard to uncover!"

"Quit bouncing, Liara, you're making the Kodiak shake." Garrus joked, as he sat back and looked out the window. "Amazing planet, never knew of it before. But still, do you think we should really explore this, Shepard? It may just be a waste of time." Shepard shook her head, she knew he wasn't asking unkindly, but with the Crucible being their best guess she could understand how he may view this trip as unnecessary.

"My hopes aren't resting on it, but if it's a weapon then I want it in my hands." Shepard replied, and Garrus nodded at her judgement. He personally hoped it was something that could at least help ease Shepards mind. At the rate she was going she was going to go insane or possibly pass out at the worst possible moment. He, and the everybody if he was going to be that thoughtful, wanted and needed Shepard at her best, and despite his attempts to help her she insists on shouldering most of the burdens. _When this is over, we're retiring someplace far away where our only concerns will be what to drink next and how many children to have._ He thought to himself.

The Kodiak landed at a clearing closest to the entrance, and as the group stepped out they couldn't help but admire the environment. Despite the lush jungle a good portion of the ruins could still be seen, and Liara was the first one there examining it, running her omnitool over it to capture some of the intricate carvings and decorations that remained.

"Shepard, there are remarkable similarities to the Protheans design, there seems to be some sort of writing but I can't decipher it. However, this may be what influenced the Protheans architecture and their beacons. Oh, I wish I had more time to spend on it." Liara gushed, her eyes lit up in excitement as her fingers traced over a carving.

"We don't have that time, unfortunately, lets see if we can find the door." Shepard replied, and with an awed sigh, Liara began to help with the search. However, that awe was slightly dampened with having to cut through greenery as they finally found an alcove with an access panel next to it. With a nod from Shepard, Liara stepped up to see how to open it. "Seems we're in luck, Shepard, I guess the Protheans took a lot of their technology from...well.. whoever these people were. But with their age do you think that-"

"That Reapers got them? More than likely, I mean, Sovereign did say that they were in that business for countless cycles." Shepard replied shortly, making Liara wince and return to her focus to the job. A few moments later the door slid open and again they were stopped by what they saw. Shepard admitted to herself that she expected the rest of it to be of stone, but instead it was made out of a smooth.. plastic? She wasn't sure what the material was. The trio explored, fascinated by what they saw when they came up to a terminal that had keys with unknown script on them. Idly, she pressed a few buttons, jumping back in surprise when the terminal lit up. There was no video, but they could hear the voices. One that seemed to be female sounded panicked, one that sounded more masculine responded, and in the background Shepard could hear screams, and after a few minutes the voice that spoke first started to scream but was cut off when the recording stopped.

"I don't suppose you could understand that, Shepard?" Liara asked, her eyes still on the terminal.

"No, but it didn't sound good. What the Hell happened here?" Shepard replied, looking around the room. It now looked more ominous than before to her, and she stopped the shiver that was coming up her spine.

"Maybe from the Reaper attack?" Garrus guessed, looking around as well as if expecting something terrible to jump out.

"Shepard, the anomaly is through the door on your right, at the end of the corridor."

"Are we still alone, Edi?"

"I'm not getting any heat signatures, Shepard."

"Right, lets go and get out of here." Shepard replied, though the trio now had their guns at the ready. Exiting the room, they were forced to turn on their flashlights as they traveled down the dark hallway. Liaras beam would occasionally stop on the wall as she'd exclaim over a piece of artwork or script, and she wished she could explore the rest of the rooms. They stopped at the door at the end of hall and allowed Liara to work to access panel again, making Shepard wish that Tali was with her, she could probably have gotten through it quicker, but when the door opened they carefully stepped through, and what Shepard saw made her groan.

The room was empty.

With exception of one casket.


	2. Chapter 2: A Hard Case

_Wooo! Already I have inspiration for a 2nd chapter! What sorcery is this? And what is in the casket? Eventually I'll get there, keep reading. :)_

_..._

"A casket? You mean the anomaly is just a friggen corpse?" Shepard said in a tight voice, trying to prevent herself from exploding. "This was all just a waste of time?" Garrus motioned for Liara to explore the room as he approached Shepard.

"We don't know if it's a waste of time yet, Mal." he answered in a low voice, making Shepard notice he actually used her first name outside of the bedroom. "Something pinged the Normandy, now we just got to find it. Hell, it might even be in that casket." The thought of actually digging in a casket for whatever the shiny thingy may be made Shepards nose crinkle.

"Yeah, though now that I think about it, why is there a casket here? This doesn't look like a tomb, and even if it was how has it held up after all this time? Liara?" Shepard inquired, looking over at the Asari that was intently reading her scannings. Liara held up a finger indicating that she was still reviewing, her eyes never leaving her omnitool until something made her gasp.

"Shepard, whoever is in there is still alive!"

"What? How can that be? No stasis field could last that long." Shepard walked over to Liara, looking at the readings as if what Liara read was incorrect.

"No, while it is similar to how Javik was kept alive, it seems to be managed differently. The same, but different. I know that doesn't make sense but-"

"But it's the best way to understand an unknown?"

"Exactly, Shepard. The fact that it has remained undamaged is amazing. Maybe the isolation of the casket is a show of importance, someone of high standing. My head is swimming with implications, Mal." Liara gushed, falling into informal speech.

"Is it a good idea to wake it up? We don't even know what we're dealing with." Garrus asked, eyeing the casket with caution. "For all we know, it's some different version of a husk." he added, drawing looks from both women. Shepard thumbed her lower lip, a habit when she was deep in thought, whiled Garrus and Liara bickered.

"We don't even know if Reapers attacked here, look how well this place has remained, Garrus!"

"That's why I'm suspicious, Liara. I've never seen any place that can look this nice after such a long time!"

"You haven't been anywhere else that has had remains from over 100,000 years ago! This could be the key we need to destroy the Reapers!"

"Or lead us into a trap!"

"Enough!" interrupted Shepard, holding a hand up to get their attention,"speculating will get us nowhere. Let's get everyone down here so we can be armed and ready, if it's something or someone that can help us, great, if not I want to be able to neutralize it quickly. Garrus, patch the Normandy, Liara I want you to see if we can crack this open safely." Nodding in acknowledgement, Liara turned to examine the casket further while Shepard and Garrus stepped out of the room. After patching the Normandy Garrus took advantage of the alone time to drape an arm around Shepards shoulders.

"You think whoever's in there will be any help?" Garrus asked, squeezing her to her side when Shepard sighed, resting her head against him.

"Yeah, no... I have no clue. But any little bit of help we can get would be nice. I'm going to daydream that it'll have all the answers and we can save the universe by dinner." Shepard replied tiredly.

"We'll get this done, Shepard... with or without ancient help. And once we're down, we're taking a long vacation, just the two of us." Garrus reassured her, making Shepard chuckle.

"I'll hold you to that, Vakarian." she replied, reluctantly pulling away when the Normandy landed, putting her commander face back on and walking towards the entrance to meet the arriving crew.


End file.
